News Releases

EPA announced the avialability of the Administrative Record for the Lead Removal Site, Anniston, Alabama

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the Administrative Record for the Anniston Lead Removal Site in Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama is available for public review.

The Administrative Record file includes documents that form the basis for selection of the removal action. Documents in the record may include but are not limited to preliminary assessment and inspection reports, test results, and the Action Memorandum. All interested persons are encouraged to review the documents and provide comments.

The documents will be available for public review during normal business hours at the following locations:

EPA will accept comments regarding the Administrative Record during the public comment period which begins on December 15, 2003 and ends on January 14, 2004. Comments should be addressed to Karen Buerki, On-Scene Coordinator, U.S. EPA Region 4, ERRB, 11th Floor, 61 Forsyth St., S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. At the end of the 30-day comment period, a written response to all pertinent comments will be prepared in a responsiveness summary and placed in the file.

The Anniston Lead Site consists of residential, commercial and public properties located in and around Anniston and a small area in Oxford, AL. These properties contain or are suspected of containing lead-contaminated soil and sediment. The source of this contamination is suspected of originating from various industrial facilities in the area that utilized lead and various other heavy metals in different processes. Many of the facilities operated as pig iron foundries, smelters and mills, brass foundries, iron recyclers, soil and pipe foundries, fabrication and galvanization of steel processes, scrap metal recovery processes, military munitions factories, and electroplators. Contamination from these sources is suspected to have spread from air emissions, runoff and drainage, and relocation of backfill from various facilities.